Hello Old Scum: NHL
So um heal up Jimmy..Starting Wednesday at 10 pm: Chicago Tribune
No love loss: Comcast Chicago
HAHAHAHA: SN AUTOPLAY
I think there may be worse problems: TSN
Can’t think of much else to do today after a day off for most. So let’s see who’s been naughty and who’s been nice.
The Dizzying Highs
Marian Hossa – Well I’m not sure I quite agree with the Tribune’s assertion today that at 35 he’s better than ever (more people probably needed to see him play in Atlanta), he was certainly vintage stuff this week. Three goals and four points in three games, while firing 16 shots. We’ve talked about what Hossa’s shot totals mean, and it’s always heartening to see him getting his share. Maybe he’s taking some of Toews’s opportunities away, but no one cares at this point. I’m still jumpy about what he’ll look like after the Olympics and in the playoffs, and we know that there will be some nights where he never gets out of third gear. You can also look for him to not be in the lineup for a game or two in March, as that back is always a concern. But for right now, he’s the dominant force we know and love.
Ben Smith – This one might be a bit of a stretch, because there aren’t really any numbers to back this up, and he was a -2 over the week. But watching him play he’s been a badass. Simply everywhere and never stops working, and his PK work has improved. I still don’t know what he is (my heart says 3rd-4th line tweener), but his high rate of work definitely makes up for the lack of mobility on the other side of his line.
Crow honored: Chicago Tribune
That’s a good guy to model your game after: SunTimes
True, but cap hits aren’t: Comcast AutoPlay
In my opinion these should be flipped: TSN
Its time to troll..but was quite the streak: ESPN
I don’t want to get too extravagant or over the top here, but I can’t help but smile at how the Hawks and Bruins demonstrated everything good the sport can be a little more than 13 hours after Vancouver and Calgary pretty much embarrassed everyone involved with it. Because today was as good a game as the regular season can produce. And it involved none of the bullshit that sometimes comes with teams with a history.
It was fast, it was passionate, it was physical at times, both teams traded periods of having the upperhand. Big saves, big hits, nifty passing, defensive responsibility, it wouldn’t have looked out of place in late May. If there’s any downside, it was just another illustration that a contest like this is somewhat sullied by having it end in a skills competition. It easily could have ended 2-2 and I doubt anyone would have walked out of that building feeling like they didn’t get their money’s worth.
The dream had to end
The wish never came true
And the girl starts to sing
Feeling is gone
And the picture disappears
Everything is cold now
Time slips away
And the light begins to fade
And everything is quiet now
@ 
Game Time: 11:30AM Central. Wait… that can’t be right, can it?
TV/Radio: NBC or NHLN-CA/WGN720
Still Smarting: Days Of Y’Orr, Stanley Cup of Chowder
Despite the whiskey and beer haze, the memories of June 24th are still fresh in my mind as I hope they are in yours. It doesn’t hurt to go back and watch this video every few weeks like I find myself doing when I need a smile (probably should turn down your speakers). That win was in way so much more fun because of the polar opposite types of endings – a come from behind knockout punch against a subtle confusing delayed celebration. Either way, it was a special night to remember no matter how many brain cells I killed.
You’d hope it remains the same for the players too. Sure there are subtractions and additions on both benches but for the most part, the cores have remained the same on each side and the bewilderment had to have turned to disappointment and anger on the Boston side. Though the games were entertaining and physical, it lacked the sideshow drama and ill-will that built up against the series like we saw in Philly (Chris Pronger).
So at a completely unnatural time for hockey, we’ll get to see not only the always entertaining Original 6 match up, but the a Stanley Cup re-match that also features 3 of the last 4 winners of the chalice. Get yer coffee and bacon ready.
Oh right, they can do it.
We said if the Hawks performed like they did against the Avalanche on Tuesday that they would win far more often than they would lose. I don’t know if they were significantly better tonight than Tuesday, but they sure as fuck weren’t any worse. And it led to them essentially rag-doll the hottest team in the league that currently sits on the Presidents’ throne, save for a nervy five minutes there in the 3rd. Don’t worry folks, the driver is still in the bag when it’s needed.
For me, the big tactic from the Hawks was an uber-aggressive defense. Not so much in jumping into the rush, but standing up at the Ducks blue line, jumping the Ducks in the neutral zone to whatever puck carrier there may be, and standing up at their own blue line. The Ducks have given the Hawks fits with their straight-line game for years now. It seemed like the Hawks just decided they were going to blunt those lines at center ice. They wouldn’t even let the Ducks get the puck behind them and down low, and whenever they did they were 100-feet away. The Ducks certainly weren’t at their best, but they weren’t allowed to be for long stretches. Every time the puck gained control of the puck outside of their zone, they were smothered.
You can’t do that every game, as eventually you’ll give up a bevy of odd-man rushes to a team that’s ready to play that quickly. And the Hawks gave up a couple, but not many. It was high-pressure stuff, and the Ducks didn’t really have an answer.
While everyone else makes futile attempts to figure out why the Hawks suck when the games go over 60 minutes (um, luck?), let’s pass over that debate and check in on how the kids outside the organization at the moment are doing.
Unlike last year, where McNeill and Danault were some of the Hawks most exciting prospects plying their trade in the Canadian hinterlands, this year sees the more intriguing ones roaming the the quads and woods of American college campuses (in one’s case, sometimes in a garbage bag).
We’ll start out east in Chestnut Hill, MA, where Kevin Hayes has put up 35 points in just 22 games with Boston College. This past weekend, Hayes went a little bonkers with two goals and three assists in two games versus Providence and Brown. Hayes does have the sweetheart spot in the BC lineup, as he has been playing with one of the most dynamic players in the NCAA in Johnny Gudreau. But hey, you gotta make something of it when it’s given to you and Hayes has done that. While I only got brief glimpses of Hayes last year, I’ve always thought he was the better pro prospect than his brother Jimmy, as he’s a slightly smoother skater and has better hands. Hayes the Younger won’t be a Hawk next year or anything but should get a good look in Rockford.
His teammate Chris Calnan also scored this weekend, and has seven points on the year playing in the BC bottom six.
